Bitcoin

Follow this link for instructions on setting up OFXDirectConnect in GnuCash 2. General instructions Bank Name may not be significant. ORG may be case sensitive. Bank Code is probably not used for credit cards, but may be critical for bank accounts. Note: 2.4.0 doesn't seem to enable the "Online Actions" menu if the Bank Code is not defined.
The Future of Money. Stéphane Laborde (Galuel)
Arthur Brock (artbrock)
Oscurrency (oscurrency)
Money : Future Agenda – A Global Debate. Posted on October 14, 2009 by Dave Birch Money has four basic functions, each of which can be implemented in a different way and so each of which are available for different types of change.

To me it is reasonable to consider these four functions and look at the global challenges to each of them individually and from there ask about the future.
Un grand pas vers le nouveau monde. Pour savoir où nous allons, il faut savoir qui nous sommes, d’où nous venons.

This is a valid way to think of food security. If food prices are high relative to income, or if other compelling expenses such as housing, health care and transportation also require a large portion of income, then securing adequate food on an individual or family level will be problematic. Programs that disperse food to the needy, redistribute income through tax policies, assist with the high costs of non-food expenses, guarantee a living wage, etc. all address distribution inequity and are laudable.

But the question I want to ask is whether they are now sufficient? The first assumption is that enough food can actually be grown and delivered to wherever it needs to go. Food-Backed Local Currency Image 2. Image 3.
Digital Money Forum: Innovation that matters for the majority. [Dave Birch] That there is an interplay between the technology and monetary policy is obvious.

Look what is going on in Africa. People who aren't allowed to hold dollar bank account hold dollar-denominated mobile top-up vouchers instead. Ugandans without an effective electronic payment system are using M-PESA from Kenya to execute local transactions in Kenyan shillings. Congolese without access to any banking network use mobile money instead (and may never, ever, want or need a bank account as a result). In India and elsewhere the banks have managed put a regulatory finger in the dyke but the pressure is building and money is already leaking away from conventional institutions and networks into newer, mobile-centric, customer-facing organisations. At the very first Digital Money Forum, the late Professor Glyn Davies (author of the magnificent "A History of Money") said that every technology revolution in money led to less centralised control.

Sharp exchange rate volatility is a sign of stress in the world currency system and has reignited debate about whether the dollar will continue to be the world's primary reserve currency and what system could emerge in its place. But nobody has asked a more fundamental question—what are the benefits and costs of issuing a global reserve currency? Answering this question may shed new light on how the global currency system might evolve and whether businesses and economies should expect a continuation of an "unmanaged" reserve currency system that increases exchange rate volatility and threatens their competitiveness Some observers assume that the United States continues to enjoy an "exorbitant privilege" because of the dollar’s reserve currency status, as former French Finance Minister Valéry Giscard d’Estaing charged in the 1960s.

But MGI finds that the United States may not enjoy much of a privilege at all. The research finds that reserve currency status has two benefits.
Oikonomics: a social life of money: Brixton Pound - does local m. On the basis of the two reports (One from the Guardian and One from the Times) the jury is out on the social benefits of Transition Towns new local Brixton pound.

Most local shopkeepers the Guardian reporter spoke to (by the looks of things from the market stallholders) the new currency was at best a distraction and worst a waste of public time ‘keeping money in the community’. Having met many of the original thinkers and creators of LETS schemes at various conferences here and in the USA, I must admit that I am skeptical about the story of ‘local money for local people’ which has become the normal justification for the value of such creations.

Oikonomics: a social life of money. It is a recurring debate within most financial services companies to ask "does this constitute advice?'.

Advice in financial services is highly regulated as a result of Financial Services somewhat chequered history on the matter. You don't have to go very far back in history to find repeated examples of sharp sales practices masquerading as advice. My main 'stuck record' when talking to FS companies is to try to convince them that such practices reflect their own skewed view of the world and have very little to do with the meaning and value of advice in society at large. This is more than just a philosophical debate, although policy wonks and practioneers need (and I think this would be a good thing) to be more philosophical about the nature of advice (and information) if we are not going to see the dysfunctionality of advice in the financial services industry repeated in other sectors of public good - such as health, social care and sustainability. So lets look at the 'facts'.
Open Money (openmoney)
Alan rosenblith. IRS May Push for Tax Compliance in Virtual Worlds.

By Sharon McLooneThe Washington PostThursday, January 8, 2009 The IRS soon may keep a closer watch on the thousands, if not millions, of small firms and the self-employed that have sprouted up in virtual worlds.

The nation's taxpayer advocate, who recommends to the IRS how to improve the average consumer's tax-paying process, released her annual report Wednesday describing some of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers as well as some issues that the IRS should proactively address. Taxpayer advocate Nina Olson listed the usual perennial suspects -- telling the IRS it should simplify the tax code and improve its working with taxpayers experiencing financial difficulties, among many other things.
[1007.0515] Liquidity in Credit Networks: A Little Trust Goes a.

Facebook-MOL Partnership Brings Virtual Credits to Real Stores. Facebook is partnering with MOL Global to deliver a new way to buy Facebook credits--in person at a MOL-connected store. It's a strange real world/virtual world crossover, and definitely a sign of the way future digital finances will work. MOL is a hot-topic Internet financial company, though if you haven't heard about it it's not surprising--while it operates in 75 countries, mainly its operations are centered in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

According to its press data, the company handles "over 60 million transactions" annually, leveraging "a network of more than 540,000 physical payment collection points" that connect to 88 banks in nine different countries. It's also a name you may have heard of in relation to Friendster, since it acquired the social network back in December 2009.